I’ve been a tea drinker ever since I can remember and high tea is something I really enjoy. Attending the Holiday High Tea at the Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa has become somewhat of a tradition for me. Even though I moved to Canada from Sri Lanka when I was just 5 years old, my family doesn’t have a lot of relatives here in Ottawa so we’ve kind of had to make our own Christmas traditions. The Chateau Laurier offers a lot of great dining events around the holiday season including a Christmas dinner in the ballroom. My favourite event however is their Holiday High Tea.
High Tea at the Chateau Laurier is hosted at Zoe’s Lounge. The restaurant recently went through a major renovation and I highly recommend checking out their new look. The tea menus change according to the season and although High Tea is offered throughout the year the Holiday edition is especially popular. You can find their holiday menu here. Typically the menu consists of some savoury sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and strawberry jam and some desserts served on a 3 tier platter.
There is usually a wide selection of tea to choose from and a tea sommelier to guide you through the options. I normally choose the traditional English Breakfast tea but this time I decided to change things up and try the Ice Wine flavoured tea – it was a welcome surprise. The ice wine added a fruity flavour to the tea which was quite light. The nice thing about the teas is that you can determine how strong or weak you want the tea to be depending on how long you steep it. The staff at Zoe’s even give you a handy tea timer so you can perfect your tea to your liking.
In addition to the finger food and tea selection Zoe’s also offers some holiday inspired cocktails. I tried the Kir Under The Mistletoe, a Christmas spin on the traditional Kir Royal which just happens to be my favourite cocktail. I loved this cocktail and would recommend it to anyone who likes Champagne or Prosecco. It was a perfect blend of fruity and sweet.
Many people ask me what I wear to High Tea and my honest answer is it depends. In the Summer I usually wear a dress with a matching fascinator. This time however I opted for pants and a top since my reservation was for 4:15 and the sun usually sets around 4:30 in the Winter in Canada. I found this fabulous statement sleeve top at Suzy Shier. This top honestly looks like a haute couture piece with its organza sleeves and medallion embroidered hem across the bottom. I paired the top with these jacquard print pants which I picked up at Le Chateau a few years ago. You can still find them at their outlets 🙂
If you ever plan on going to High Tea at the Chateau I highly recommend making a reservation in advance as space is limited and it tends to sell out soon. The same goes for their other Christmas dining events. The best way to avoid disappointment is to book early so if you’re in Ottawa and looking for something special to do this holiday season check out the Chateau Laurier and don’t forget to walk around the hotel to take a look at their Trees of Hope display 🙂
If you follow me on Instagram you probably know I recently did a bed makeover! I love pink so I decided to revamp my room to reflect my favourite colour 🙂 I found this adorable bedding set from Hometrends at Walmart Canada. The set comes with: a comforter, 2 pillow shams and 2 decorative pillows. I wanted to off set the pink colour of the comforter set with a soft white so I opted for this simple white sheet set from Mainstays. The set I picked up came with a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and 2 large pillow cases for a Queen Sized bed but there are lots of options to choose from. To finish off this pretty in pink look I found this too cute to be true heart pillow at Quilts Etc. I also found these cute pyjamas at Garage. They’re so comfy and come in black as well if you’re not as crazy about pink as I am 😉
I’m back 🙂 As you all know I was away during the holidays and enjoying the sunshine in Sri Lanka, but now I’m back to Winter in Ottawa! And boy is it cold!!!
